Press Release
Adagio Bean to Bar Brand Identity by Seraphina Sol Wins the Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
Seraphina Sol honored for graphics, illustration and visual communication design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 17, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Adagio Bean to Bar Brand Identity by Seraphina Sol, designed for Adagio, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Adagio Bean to Bar Brand Identity
Adagio is a luxury bean to bar chocolate brand identity built around sustainable cultivation and ingredient origin. Hand drawn botanical illustrations and numeric timelines show how cacao, mint, and citrus develop over time, turning the visual system into a guide to farming practices and seasonal cycles. Gold foil details and refined typography convey craftsmanship and quality, while the modular three box format creates a coherent identity that connects flavor, brand experience, and the land behind each harvest.
About Seraphina Sol
Seraphina Sol is an international artist and creative director whose work bridges the fields of art, science, and design. With an eye for detail, she creates scientific illustrations that bring the delicate beauty of the natural world into a strong focus. Her work draws inspiration from the precision of natural history museum collections, and blends traditional drawing techniques with modern digital methods to capture the essence of flora and fauna, and other often-overlooked elements of nature.
Award Record
With this recognition, Seraphina Sol is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2024 - 2025 and the 2025 - 2026 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award
The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Typical entries include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. The awarded graphic designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/graphics
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/180957
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/180957
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!180957
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/365104
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.seraphinasol.com
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Adagio Bean to Bar Brand Identity
- Function
- Brand Identity
- Category
- Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising and Arts
- Colors
- Silver, Gainsboro, Black, Rosy Brown and Dark Khaki
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Adagio
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Seraphina Sol
- Country
- Canada
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #180957
Credits
- Image Credits
- Seraphina Sol, 2026.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Hand-drawn illustrations and numerical timestamps record the years and elements of nature behind each bean-to-bar chocolate, honoring the time embedded in every ingredient. The warmth of the sun, the steady rhythm of cultivation, and the patience required for growth shape both the visual and conceptual direction of the identity. Across the series, three distinct designs align and stack to form a subtle piano motif, with the box spines creating a sequence of keys. Rendered in earth tones that celebrate the forest of harvest, the system connects chocolate quality to a slow pace of craft and a thriving, sustainable landscape.
- Inspiration
- Adagio, the musical tempo of unhurried movement, inspires this bean to bar chocolate identity. Guided by grace and deliberate pause, the design captures the gold of the sunlight that gives life to botanicals, with flavours shaped by slow cultivation over speed. Hand drawn illustrations trace each bar's journey, two years to strengthen mint roots, five for cacao to mature, and eight pollinator species in a citrus grove, honouring patience and connection to the land.
- Research
- The research focused on boutique hospitality and immersive spaces, where color, form, and material shape mood and meaning. The palette mirrors the sky through the day including soft morning blues, vibrant oranges, muted evening grays, and deep purple twilight, while golden tones recall sunlit landscapes. Hand-drawn botanical illustrations celebrate the growth cycles of cacao, mint, and citrus, connecting each ingredient to its environment. The final design evokes the deliberate rhythm of cultivation, the richness of the landscape, and a tactile, immersive connection between guest and chocolate.
- Challenge
- The creative challenge focused on translating the values of sustainability, slow cultivation, and ecological stewardship into a cohesive brand identity. Research explored natural growth cycles, botanical elements, and the environmental context of each ingredient. The solution uses a modular three-box system. Just three designs can be rearranged into any configuration. This avoids repeated redesigns while communicating time, craft, and connection to the land.
- Realization and Technology
- The design is centered on digitized hand drawn illustrations rendered to map the slow timeline of nature. These intricate drawings and numerical timestamps are printed on high quality coated paper for a smooth premium feel. To elevate the tactile experience gold foil accents are applied to key biological milestones catching the light and highlighting the value of the harvest. Each box is meticulously die cut so that when stacked the spines align perfectly to reveal the piano motif.
- Operation and Interaction
- The Adagio series features a modular three-box architecture that transforms chocolate packaging into a visual piano. Utilizing the side profiles of just three unique prints, the bars act as ivory and black keys that can be rearranged to form any scale, from a single chord to a full 88-key grand piano. Gold-leaf details and serif typography mark the biological milestones of each ingredient. This scalable, sustainable system emphasizes ecological provenance and intentionality, removing the need for multiple iterations.
- Project Duration and Location
- The Adagio project was developed in New York, USA, from October 2025 to January 2026. Over four months, it progressed through research and hand-drawn illustration refinement, shaping the visual identity of the artisanal brand.
- Specifications
- The packaging includes three bean to bar chocolate boxes, each measuring 16.3 x 8.4 x 1.1 cm. These chocolates are sized to fit standard mailboxes, to support eco conscious shipping. Printed on high quality coated paper, the labels feature gold foil stamping to highlight the brand and provide a premium tactile contrast.
- Keywords
- Branding, Visual Identity, Graphic Design, Illustration, Botanical, Botany, Chocolate, Packaging
